


Genetic Miracles

by TMar



Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 02:26:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16589027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TMar/pseuds/TMar
Summary: Wesley is about to become a father. But will he find out the truth about his own parentage?





	Genetic Miracles

**Author's Note:**

> This story appeared in "Naked Now Two" in 1992. It predates the episode "The First Duty" so that's why no plot elements from that episode are mentioned.
> 
> The poem Picard quotes is "Debts", by Jessie B. Rittenhouse.

GENETIC MIRACLES

Captain Picard stood outside Sickbay, about to walk in, when he heard his Chief Medical Officer talking to someone, a slight edge of hysteria in her voice. "Please tell me this is your idea of a joke," she was saying.

Picard couldn't hear the other person, but Beverly's utterance was enough to peak his curiosity - not that he'd ever admit it. She went on, "Wesley, do you want me to come to Earth?"

Silence again, while Wesley replied, and Picard considered those words: WHY would the doctor want to go and see her son, unless there was some kind of emergency?

"I don't know if you should be handling this alone," she said. "All right, all right. You two take care. Wes... " her tone softened. "I hope you realise you just made your mother feel very old."

When it sounded as if the transmission had terminated, Picard walked into Sickbay. "Beverly?" he asked tentatively, when he saw her sitting, resting her chin on her hand, looking rather... amused. 

When Picard spoke, Crusher sat up straight. "Jean-Luc."

"Care to tell your captain what is going on?"

Beverly didn't even ask him how he knew something was up - enough that he did, and anyway, he was the captain, and captains always knew. The doctor took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I just spoke to Wesley on subspace."

"He's all right, isn't he?" Picard asked it, knowing that he would never get over worrying about Wesley, his best friend's son.

“Oh, he's fine. He... Oh, Jean-Luc!" The doctor's face broke into an uneasy smile. "My son just informed me... that..." She shook her head as if to say, 'I can't believe this', "...I'm going to be a grandmother."

Picard had the same unbelieving reaction, "WHAT?"

"I forgot that he'd grown up at the Academy," she said. "Even on this ship, I... no one likes their child to grow up and grow away from them. And this new... it's quite a  
surprise."

"I'll say," Picard remarked. Then his face drew into its 'this is amusing and embarrassing, but...' look. "How... I mean, did he say whether..."

Beverly smiled back at him. "He said they just didn't bother."

“Well, Wesley is not one who leaves things to Fate," mused Picard.

Crusher nodded. "I think he wanted to have more of a chance to experience parenthood than his father did," she said.

"He did it on purpose," Jean-Luc concluded.

"Yeah."

***

Wesley closed off the channel and smiled at the girl sitting just out of range of the visual pickup. She was very striking, with dark hair and eyes, and elegant pointed ears. "You left out the most important part of the announcement, Wesley," she said, and the cadet sighed. "I know. I... just thought that the part about the baby would be all that my mother could handle at once."

The young woman - wearing a uniform of a science cadet - smiled with her eyes. "I think neither of us wants to break the news to our parents very quickly."

"Yeah..." he mused. Then, changing the subject slightly, "Did you access your medical files yet?"

"Yes. I am waiting for the medical files of my parents."

Wesley had accessed his own medical file, but for some reason he was finding it hard to get hold of his parents' ones. He didn't understand that, because the situation he found himself in was grounds for getting any and all family medical files. "I can't get mine," he said. "Starfleet has somehow misplaced them."

"Will they let you access the computer to look for them?"

Wesley hadn't thought of that. "I'll ask. It's important to work out the genetics of this baby," he smiled, taking her hand. T'Erre looked at him, her face still solemn, but her eyes smiling again. "Only to us," she said. "The numerous Vulcan-Human babies born in the last two hundred years prove that there is nothing to worry about."

"I know, I... I just love you," he finally said.

"Highly illogical," she commented, and Wesley laughed.

***

Beverly sat in Ten Forward, a drink on the table. Since she usually drank lemon tea, Guinan's curiosity was aroused. "Synthehol for the good doctor?"

"Hmmm," said the good doctor.

"I heard that Wesley is going to be a father," Guinan went on. She hardly needed to mention the ship's rumour mill - as they say, the only thing that travels faster than Warp 10 is news. But Guinan carried on. "I don't think that's a good enough reason to sit in here with that." She indicated the drink.

"I'm just... Guinan, I'm worried. There are some things about... about Wesley's medical background that I... that he might not be prepared to find out."

"What makes you think he'll even bother to look it up?"

Crusher smiled sadly. "After I spoke to Wes, I called a friend at Starfleet Headquarters, to find out..."

"Oh, snooping," commented Guinan, getting an 'I plead guilty' look in return.

"Anyway, he told me that he is seeing a Science cadet, a young Vulcan woman."

"An interesting development."

Beverly nodded. "I know my son. He'll want to find out all he can about the genetic inheritance of the baby."

"And you don't want him to?"

"I do... it's just... this makes it difficult... I never expected that he'd want to know certain things."

"About his father?" Guinan had harboured doubts about Wesley's parentage ever since she'd seen the doctor and the captain together.

"Yes. We... I... I'm sorry, Guinan," Beverly said suddenly, getting up and walking out.   
Guinan looked pensive, and intrigued. If Picard was Wesley's father, that was a simple thing. There had to be some other thing that Beverly was worrying about, and Guinan couldn't help wondering what that could be.

***

"Wesley?" T'Erre (pronounced "te'ar") called, looking for him in his room. There was no answer, but the young Vulcan knew he was there; she could feel his presence. "Wesley, are you all right?" She found him hunched over a computer console in the corner, looking shocked. "What's wrong?"

"T'Erre..." he looked up at her. "Look at this."

The Vulcan scanned the readout, then looked back at Wesley. "Jack Crusher's medical file."

He nodded. "Nothing out of the ordinary... except..." 

Appended to the bottom of the file was a small notation of a condition with an exotic name. T'Erre looked back at Wesley. "Jack Crusher was unable to have children."

"Yeah."

"He's not your father?"

Wesley got up and paced viciously. "She lied to me! My mother lied to me!"

T'Erre had seen Wesley this angry before, but it unsettled her. She wasn't skilled in calming upset humans. "She must have had a good reason."

"Sure, she didn't want me to know who my father was! She wanted me to think Jack Crusher was my father!"

"There's nothing you can do about it now," T'Erre said.

"Like hell there isn't!" Wesley yelled, and was half out the door before she stopped him. She was stronger than him, after all. "Where are you going, Wesley?"

"I'm requesting some vacation time. I'm going to find out from my mother what the score is."

"We have a vacation coming up." T'Erre took a deep breath. "I'll come with you." And she hugged him.

Wesley hugged her back tightly. "Thanks." Then he kissed her. "I still don't know why you like me.”

"You make me like myself, Wesley Crusher. For being who I am... and what I am. You're the only human I've known who didn't ask me silly questions about Vulcan philosophy and emotions."

"I guess that's something any Vulcan who goes off-planet must deal with."

"Yes... you make me feel restful."

"Would that translate to 'I love you'?" Wesley asked, teasing her.

She shrugged. "Love is a human concept."

Wesley smiled. "I know."

***

Picard walked around smiling to himself for the next few weeks, being happy for Wesley, but wondering what had made him do such an illogical thing. Sex was perfectly normal for any young human... but what Picard didn't get was, why a Vulcan woman? And why a baby? In this modern age no beings had babies by accident... 'accidently on purpose', more like it. Still he was happy for Wesley, and when Starfleet informed him of Wesley's impending visit, he was even happier.

The day arrived when Wesley and T'Erre would be beaming over, and Picard went to the transporter room to greet him. He found Beverly already there, a terribly uncomfortable look in her eyes. "Are you all right?" he asked her.

"He didn't even call me again, Jean-Luc, I just got a message from Starfleet saying to expect him at such-and-such a time, on this stardate. Why didn't he call me?"

Picard looked pensive. "Perhaps he's trying to work out the babies genetic inheritance, and accessed his medical files."

"That's what I've been worrying about," she said. "What if he reads the notation on Jack's file, and thinks..."

"You think that's why he didn't call, because he's angry?"

The doctor nodded. "He doesn't know... I never told him any of it..."

By now Beverly was getting a little too upset. Picard took her by the shoulders. "There is nothing to tell him."

Beverly laughed with an edge of hysteria. "Nothing to tell him. I'm sure he won't think so!"

"Ah, Sir," said O'Brien, not really wanting to interrupt this, er, fascinating conversation, but having to announce impending arrivals, "Wesley is waiting to beam aboard."

Picard sighed, pulled his jacket straight. "Make it so, Mr. O'Brien."

The transporter activated, and soon two humanoids shimmered into existence on the platform. One was a very handsome, very recognisable young man, and the other was a tall, dark, extremely beautiful Vulcan woman. Both still wore their cadet uniforms. Picard stepped forward, his diplomatic training taking over. "Wesley."

Wesley came over and shook hands. "Ah, Captain Picard, this is T'Erre."

Picard saluted, which the Vulcan found refreshing. "Captain." She returned the salute, as Wesley stepped past to speak to his mother. 

"Mom," he said, uncertainly.

When Beverly saw he wasn't visibly angry, she reached out and hugged her son. “Wes, it's so good to see you!"

"Mom, T'Erre. T'Erre, my mother, Doctor Beverly Crusher."

Beverly shook hands, noticing that the young woman seemed quite comfortable with both human and Vulcan customs. Of course, she'd have to be... "I'm very pleased to meet you," she said.

"I, too, doctor. Your son has told me much about you."

Beverly smiled. "I'm afraid I can't say the same about you."

"I'm sure we can... what do humans say - catch up? - soon enough." Despite the fact that T'Erre's face remained impassive, Crusher got the distinct impression that the young lady was amused. Of course, she HAD worked with a Vulcan before and knew how to tell these things.

"Would you like a tour of the ship?" Picard asked T'Erre.

"Please," she said. "It will give Wesley a chance at see his mother alone for a change."

Surprised at T'Erre's perception, Picard smiled. "I will be pleased to conduct you."

"Thank you, Captain."

They walked out, and Wesley followed his mother to the guest quarters.

Once inside the guest cabin, Beverly turned to her son. "Wesley, how on Earth did you get yourself into this situation!?"

"I'll answer that when you tell me why my medical file says Jack Crusher isn't my father."

The doctor closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I thought that's why you were coming here."

"You lied! You lied to me!" Wesley's joy at seeing his mother again reverted to the anger he'd felt back on Earth.

"No, I didn't lie to you."

Wesley folded his arms. "What didn't you lie about? Or did you just omit the truth? Lying by omission is still lying, Mom."

"It's a bit of both, I guess... but one thing remains true. Jack was your father."

"WHAT?"

"It... we..." she stopped, trying to think of a way to explain what had gone on those nineteen years before.

Wesley launched into a characteristic 'speech'. "Mom, I know that condition is irreversible. I also know that it's unlikely that two blue-eyed people might produce a brown-eyed baby. Jack Crusher had blue eyes.”

The doctor shook her head. "Yes, I know, but..."

"Mom, what are you trying to say?"

"We're all familiar with artificial wombs, cloning, intersplicing of chromosomes... So we did that."

"You did what?" Just when he'd thought he'd learned the truth, Wesley was confronted by something even weirder. Well, they always said truth was stranger than fiction.

"We borrowed someone else's genetic material... just enough to overcome your father's condition. It wasn't much... we replaced the few defective genes, and nine months later we had you."

"Jack Crusher was my father?" Wesley could hardly believe it.

"We decided not to tell you... we didn't want you to think of yourself as being a product of... of..."

"Modern technology?" Wesley smiled slightly.

“Yeah."

"Okay, Mom." Wes faced her. "Whose genetic material did you borrow?"

"Wesley, that's not for me to tell you. We promised him..."

"Yeah, yeah. But whoever it was, he had brown eyes, right?"

"Hazel," said Beverly, softly to herself. Wes overheard.

"Mom, I want to know."

"I'll try, Wes." Then she hugged him. "Why don't you unpack. I'll see you and T'Erre in the observation lounge for dinner."

Beverly ran along the corridor, almost knocking a few crew members down in her hurry. She chimed at Jean-Luc Picard's door. "Come."

In she raced. "Jean-Luc, he wants to know."

Picard got up and paced. "I think we both knew that this time would come."

"I hoped it wouldn't."

"I know you did. But it has, and we must face it."

"I promised you both... I said..."

Picard hugged her, just about. "Beverly, Jack was my best friend who needed my help. And you were..." he suddenly disengaged himself. "And I couldn't refuse you either."

"You'll tell him?"

Jean-Luc nodded. "I'll tell him."

After Beverly left, Picard couldn't sit down. He just continued pacing, his mind full of what they had been talking about.. Having to face the fact, now, so many years after he had put it from his mind, made the captain think of other things as well.

He had lied when he'd said he'd done it for Jack. He hadn't - he'd done it because he had seen how badly Beverly had wanted a baby, and because he loved her and wanted to leave a part of himself with her. 'Only a few genes... not enough to make me his father... but still a few of my own genes...' 

He hadn't ever wanted to admit to himself that even those few genes would be a symbol of how he had once felt about Beverly... And then he smiled ruefully to himself. 'Why kid yourself, Jean-Luc. You always felt that way about her... you still do.'

***

T'Erre sat in Sickbay later that week while Crusher and Selar ran a battery of tests and scanned every inch of her. "How long did you say Vulcan gestation was?" Beverly asked Selar.

"About two weeks short of a Terran gestation period."

"In that case..." Beverly looked more closely at her tricorder. "Wesley waited a bit long to notify me."

T'Erre stood up straighter. "Excuse me?"

"Well, according to these readings, you could have the baby in less than two weeks."

"No." said T'Erre suddenly frowned. "That's not possible."

"Why do you say that?"

"I only met Wesley... six standard months ago.”

Not wanting to ask, but knowing she had to, Crusher quietly said, "Could it be someone else's baby?"

At T'Erre's look, Beverly knew she was wrong - it WAS Wesley's baby; there was something funny going on.

"I don't want to ask this, but..."

Selar put her hand on Crusher's shoulder. "I will ask. T'Erre, did you calculate the date of conception?"

"Of course. It was..." she did some fast calculating in her head, "...five standard months three days ago today."

"Then something's not right. According to these readings, you're almost full-term."

"Doctor Crusher, Vulcans don't lie."

Beverly smiled. "I know. I'll run some cultures and see what we come up with."

T'Erre went to her quarters to lie down, knowing that the test results Selar and Crusher had come up with could not possibly be right. She had never done anything even remotely reckless until she had met Wesley... he had been such a calming, restful person... And T'Erre had never had a bonded partner due to rather progressive parents, who had wanted her to make up her own mind. Procreation was a choice, they had told her. A person always had choices. If she chose a partner and pon farr, so be it. If she didn't... it didn't matter. As long as her choices were logical and eminently Vulcan, they would support her.

She had chosen Wesley. She remembered that day of conception clearly, as was properly Vulcan. 

Wesley had spoken to her about some interesting topics, invited her out, and this day, she had invited him NOT to go out. "T'Erre, I don't... I mean, is this a Vulcan thing to do?"

"Vulcan traditions are strict... but Vulcans themselves aren't as a rule. Of course, we are proud of our traditions..."

"Another lecture," sighed Wesley, knowing all about Vulcan traditions, and hence not needing these lectures... which, he knew, was why T'Erre gave them: to annoy and amuse him.

"Not another lecture. Not today."

When Vulcan fingers found themselves in his hair, Wesley began to worry. "What about... I mean, you know, babies and so on."

"It is a choice I am prepared to make."

When Wes saw she was serious, he looked at himself, at her, and then thought of his father, dying in the service of Starfleet, not having had much of a chance to know his son. Far from worrying about that, Wesley DID want to know a child... so he made his choice as well.

***

"What's the problem?" asked Picard, looking from Crusher to Selar.

"Captain, we have discovered that T'Erre's pregnancy is more advanced than we thought."

Picard looked at them as if to say, 'So?' but Crusher shook her head. "No. I don't mean it that way. I mean, something has happened to speed up gestation. And it's only been since she's been on the ship. I got her medical records from Starfleet Academy, and everything was fine until eight days ago."

"What do you think it is?" Picard asked. "Could this be something similiar to what happened to Counselor Troi?"

I don't think so," said Selar. "Something has occurred to speed up the process." Then she frowned. "It appears that Wesley's genes are susceptible to... something. A combination of these and Vulcan genes was extremely easy. I think the baby will be fine, but what I don't know is, what set it off."

Beverly was nodding. "They told us that, remember, Jean-Luc? That recombinant genes might be susceptible to... well, not mutation, but something. I always thought that they were responsible for Wesley being so bright."

Picard smiled. "So did I." He turned back to Selar. "And the baby?"

"I think T'Erre will deliver in less than two days, but I don't think the baby has been harmed."

"We'll go over everything, Captain," said Crusher.

"Good. Keep me posted."

***

Wesley stared at T'Erre. "They said that?"

She nodded. "I didn't really notice... I thought it was natural, and I always wear these clothes off-duty..." She turned around, indicating the Vulcan caftan-like robe she had on. "It was only when Dr. Crusher said something that I realised it wasn't normal. I was behaving illogically."

"You're inexperienced. It's okay," said Wesley, trying to comfort her. Then he became the all-business Wesley most people knew when he was working. "Can you think of anything unusual that has happened since you beamed aboard... anything you did differently to when you were on Earth?"

T'Erre thought, then said, "Yes! I used the transporter. I'd not used it since the conception."

"Is that the only thing?"

"It is the only thing I can think of that might have something to do with it.”

"Okay, let's go tell my mother."

They went to Sickbay, where Wesley explained. "But why would the transporter affect the baby? Wesley's been through it dozens of times," Crusher said to Selar.

Selar's eyebrows disappeared into her hair. "Yes... unless it was the combination of recombinant genes and Vulcan genes. Normally, Vulcan genes are dominant, but..." She trailed off. "I think it was worth testing."

"Agreed." Crusher shoved the kids out the door. "Get out of here and let us work," she said. 

***

"Wesley, we never spoke about names. We thought we had more time," she said, while lying on her bed in her quarters.

Wesley didn't say anything, merely lifted his eyebrows. She looked up at him. "Wesley?"

"I don't know. What do you suggest? I didn't even ask if you'd want to give it a Vulcan or Human name, or both."

"I don't know either," said T'Erre. "I want to make up my own mind, not let tradition dictate what we do. But..."

"If we can't decide, we have tradition to fall back on."

"Yes."

"Well," mused Wes, "back on Earth, in some societies it was tradition to name the child after the grandparent of the same gender. In some cases, after the mother's father, in others... And still in others, they gave the child the name of a valued friend. Or names they liked. There weren't any rules about it."

"On Vulcan, it is customary to give the child the name of someone you admire."

At this, Wesley smiled. "There aren't any Vulcan men named Surak," he pointed out.

"Oh, no, that is much too reverent a name to be handed out freely." 

By T'Erre's tone, Wesley could tell she found that funny. "So," he said, "what do we do?"

"Who do you most admire?"

"Captain Picard. You?"

"Ambassador Spock."

Wesley let go of T'Erre and sat up. "Really?"

"Yes. He is a symbol of IDIC... he lived his life his way, yet remained uniquely Vulcan."

"Well, there are two contenders for the name if its a boy. What if it's a girl?"

"Which women do you admire, Wesley?"

"My mother... and someone on board who died. She was our security chief, Lieutenant Tasha Yar."

"I like it," said T'Erre. "T'Asha." She gave the name a particularly Vulcan pronunication.

"So do I," said Wesley. "But what if it's a boy?"

"I cannot see my child named Spock... perhaps Jean-Luc then."

"The captain will be happy,” said Wesley, trying not to laugh at the idea of a Vulcan named Jean-Luc. Still, it was a good and proud name...

"Doctor Crusher to Wesley Crusher."

"Crusher here."

"1 have the results. Why don't you and T'Erre came to Sickbay."

"On our way."

"You were correct," Beverly said to T'Erre, "it was the transporter. The carrier wave sparked off faster growth in the foetus."

"But the baby's okay?" Wesley asked anxiously.

"Oh, sure, she's fine," said the doctor, then looked guiltily at the two cadets. "Sorry."

"We didn't ask when were on Earth, but it scarely matters now," said Wesley. "At least we have a name ready."

"What is it?"

"T'Asha." 

It was T'Erre who spoke, and Beverly smiled. "Very appropriate. T'Asha what?"

Wesley looked at T'Erre. On Earth, there were no real rules about this. Sometimes children kept their mothers' names, sometimes their fathers'. Being married no longer dictated what a child was named. On Vulcan, however... But T'Erre smiled at Wesley with her eyes and said, "You decide."

Wesley smiled back. "She'll look Vulcan, so let her have your family name then."

"I know Humans sometimes have middle names."

"Yeah?"

"Crusher can be her middle name."

"All right."

***

Sixteen hours later, Picard was sitting in his quarters when Crusher's voice came over the comm panel. "Crusher to Picard."

"Picard here."

"It's a girl, Captain, three kilograms, with lots of black hair and the cutest pointed ears I've ever seen." Picard could hear Beverly smiling.

"May I come and look?"

"Yes, Captain," came Wesley's voice, sounding very pleased with himself.

"Congratulations, Mr. Crusher," said Picard, unable to stop himself from smiling broadly, thinking of the first time he'd seen Wesley on his ship. 'How time flies' he thought. Then, Wesley had just been young and obnoxious; now, he was older, and that made him less obnoxious, but still darn irritating at times. 

Picard loved Wesley as if he really was his son, and had learnt to love the obnoxious child in him. He knew for a fact that teenage girls swooned over Wesley... and Riker had made a comment about how brokenhearted they were when they heard about Wesley and his new love. Picard didn't want to think about how the piece of gossip had come to Riker's attention... but then Picard knew that his first officer had a great attraction for teenage girls... and more mature women, as well.

Shaking his head at these thoughts, Picard went to Sickbay to have a look at the baby. When he got there, the baby was lying in a crib and T'Erre, Wesley, Selar and Beverly were all clustered around her. Finally Selar staightened up and said, "All vital signs perfectly normal for a Vulcan-Human baby." Then she left, to give the small family some privacy. 

"Isn't she lovely?" Wesley was saying.

"I must agree," said T'Erre. "Illogical as it may be, I think she is the most aesthetically pleasing baby I've ever seen."

Beverly laughed. "All new mothers think that. And now, young lady, I want you to go and lie down."

"Doctor Crusher..."

"Don't tell me that Vulcans can get up straight away. You're not robots, you need rest. Now, go." Beverly pointed at the bed in Sickbay, and T'Erre had no choice but to obey.   
Wesley still stood staring at the child. "Mom, I..."

"You can't believe it?"

Wesley smiled shyly. "Yeah." Then they appeared to notice the captain standing at the door. "Oh, Captain, come in."

Picard peered at T'Asha. "Welcome aboard," he said, as he did to every new arrival on the ship. Then he turned to Wes. "She's beautiful, Wesley."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Come now," said Beverly, thinking of her tiny patient, "let's let her sleep."

"Mom, I'll stay with T'Erre."

"All right." She turned to Picard. "I think a little celebration is in order, Captain, and since those two will want to celebrate by themselves, do you feel like celebrating with me?"

"Why not," said Picard.

"Good. My quarters, in an hour?"

Picard nodded and left and Beverly paused to plant a kiss on T'Asha's tiny little forehead.

The crew were all ecstatic when they heard the news, and all seemed to be finding excuses to stop by and congratulate the parents and look at the baby. Deanna Troi said it had been a long time since she'd felt so much happiness on the ship all at one time. And pride. All the crew seemed to take great pride in the fact that they had helped with Wesley's upbringing, and look what he'd gone and done now! 

A message even arrived from Kate Pulaski (with no return address - presumably her ship was on a top-secret mission somewhere) saying, basically, that she held Wesley responsible for making the baby a useful citizen... 

When Wes read that, he laughed and interpreted for T'Erre. "She's saying she's happy for us," he said.

"Why doesn’t she just say that, then?"

"You don't know Dr. Pulaski. She has her own way of doing things."

"Who is this from?" asked T'Erre suddenly, holding up a tiny bonnet which seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. It had a single letter monogrammed onto one side, but no card. Wesley picked it up, and shook his head. "That's it!" he declared. "I've no privacy any more!"

"What do you mean?"

"News must travel fast in the galaxy if HE knows about it!"

"HE who?" T'Erre wanted to know, genuinely confused.

Wes sighed, smiling. "It's a very long story."

"Well, here's to our latest arrival," said Beverly, holding up her champagne glass.

"Hear, hear," said Picard, then he put down the champagne. "Are you really happy, Beverly?"

She nodded. "Yes. It makes me feel so old... I mean, me, a grandmother!"

"Jack would have been pleased."

"Yes, he would." She looked down. "Do you ever think about it, Jean-Luc? When we wanted a baby, and you volunteered?"

Picard frowned, looking away from her. "Yes. You were my friends..."

"I always felt as if there was more to it than that."

"Not really..." He didn't want to tell her; but he knew how intuitive the woman was: if he didn't tell her she'd eventually figure it out herself anyway and then hold it against him. Better to put all the cards on the table. "I... cared about you, back then. I agreed because I saw how much it meant to you, and because Jack was my friend."

"You cared about me?"

"Yes?"

Beverly suddenly laughed - a bitter, sarcastic laugh. "You had some sort of romantic notion about my DNA and yours, is that it?"

"I wouldn't put it that way," Picard said, at last recognising the truth, "but yes."

"Why did you let me marry Jack?"

The question caught him off guard. "What?"

"Oh, come ON, Jean-Luc, you're no idiot! You must have known I was in love with you!"

Picard swallowed, hardly able to believe his ears. "WHAT?"

Beverly now looked at him, completely stunned. "You didn't know," she said needlessly. "You didn't know."

"I was attracted to you, too, Beverly, but..." Then he sighed, and faced the truth. "I refused to see because Jack loved you, and he was my friend. He was able to make that commitment, and I wasn't."

"I think you are able now." After all, the man had committed himself to one starship for a twenty year mission... if that wasn't real committment, what was?"

"Are you asking me if..."

"If you can admit how you feel? Yes."

Picard stood up and paced. "I... I don't know. I do love you, but..."

"Come, Jean-Luc. What's the problem?"

"There isn't one. I just never... thought of this before."

"What took you thirty years to discover, my son has already found. Did you see his face when he looked at that baby? At T'Erre?"

Picard closed his eyes, accepting the inevitable. "Yes."

"I love you, Jean-Luc. 1 want you more than anything. I want you to love me, and be close to me, and share your life, and yourself, with me. Is it too hard for you?'

And the captain walked around to Beverly's side of the table and took her hand. "No, it's not." Then he hugged Beverly to him, just holding her. "Are you sure it's me you want?" he asked, and got earnest blue eyes looking up at him, providing his answer.

Then, they kissed each other, and affirmed something both had only just come to know: they had always loved each other, always wanted each other, it had just been a matter of time before they found this out themselves.

There was no desperation between them, no fear that tomorrow they'd wake up and find their feelings had faded; instead, they blended together as if they had always been familiar with each other, as if this wasn't something they had waited twenty years foT... It was comforting, secure, and both knew it was love... not only love, but love and friendship.

At some point, Picard said, "This reminds me of something an Earth poet once wrote." But he didn't inflict it on Beverly, he waited for her to ask exactly what he meant. Beverly, lying with her chin on her arms over his chest, smiled and then said, "Okay, tell me."

"My debt to you, Beloved, is one I cannot pay   
In any coin of any realm on any reckoning day;   
For where is he shall figure   
The debt, when all is said,  
To one who makes you dream again  
When all the dreams were dead?" he quoted.

"It's lovely," said Beverly.

"And so are you," Jean-Luc replied, thinking that a few decks away, another young couple was probably thinking the same thing.

THE END


End file.
